Eurotopics.net

The EU Parliament elections will decide whether EU member states move closer together or further apart. According to polls the right-wing populists stand to make major gains and, if they form a parliamentary group together, become the second-strongest force in the parliament. The conservatives in particular must adopt a clear stance against them, commentators demand.

At a meeting of the Arctic Council, a high-level intergovernmental forum of the eight states that border on the Arctic Ocean, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attacked Russia for trying to gain control of the Polar region and militarising the area. He also accused China of aggressive tactics to boost its influence in this strategically important area. Is Washington's criticism justified?

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has withdrawn his support for the EPP's leading candidate Manfred Weber in the European elections. He gave as his reason Weber's comment that he would not want to become president of the EU Commission if it depended on Fidesz votes. Commentators interpret this as a final break with the EPP and speculate about the future for Orbán and Weber.

President Erdoğan has described the decision of the Supreme Electoral Council to annul the mayoral elections in Istanbul as a move to 'strengthen the democracy'. Opposition supporters took to the streets again on Tuesday and their parties are seeking a common strategy for the rerun. What are their chances?

Italy's government made up of Lega and the Five Star Movement is at odds over what to do about a junior minister in the Transport Ministry who is accussed of corruption. Five Star has demanded the resignation of the Lega minister and the cabinet is to reach a decision this Wednesday. But the case of the junior minister is just a pretext, observers suspect.